he says are politically motivated and lives in exile. and its predecessors have won every general election since two thousand and one the home to. the judiciary can certainly the straw these pro talks and parties so in the end. the election will certainly be a spectacle that people can use to express themselves and be happy that they had a voice but in the outcome the one to whens again i would say some feel that the military government has been clever in exploiting the divisions here in thai society but some say part of the blame rests on the biggest political parties the democrats and. the supporters of these two parties are known as the yellow shirts and red shirts and their rivalry has been the basis for nearly two decades of instability and led to two military coups three hundred sixty seven seats is the magic number needed to gain control and form

a government opinion polls indicate no single party will reach it so it's likely a coalition will need to be formed and with the deck stacked in the military is favor many expect compromises will have to be made any. political parties that will be successful in this election will face. a monumental task of dismantling and not proud to solve repression that have been carefully put in place by the military . so even after the ballots are counted and winners are announced they'll be some intense political horse trading before the people of this nation see the face of their next government scott hi there al jazeera bangkok. is following the story from for us and joins us now from chiang mai for us the selection it's been a long time coming what's that this for like ahead of polling day. well this is a highly anticipated election and perhaps particularly more so in chiang mai in the

northern and northeast parts of the country in these areas a considered political stronghold for the shinawatra family down thompson that parties have not lost a single election since two thousand and one but taksin and his sister both former prime ministers of this country have been removed from power either in a coup or by the courts in the last fifteen years so this is a much highly anticipated election especially for this region it is also a much delayed election and when the military seized power in two thousand and fourteen it promised to hold polls within a year or two well it's been five years so people are eager to be able to cast their ballots early voting but took place a week ago saw high voter turnout of nearly eighty seven percent and forecasters are taking it that as an indication that the turnout will be high on sunday as well . florence as you said here in the north where the the chena want from where you do

enjoy strong support are people in northern thailand of the optimistic of a fair results. i beg your pardon are they optimistic of a fair result of more roommates and see the question i'm saying are people in the area where you're joining us from are they optimistic of a fair result because we heard in that previous reports that the skepticism about how the results would be handles. that's right now and this election has been described by democracy activists as it's not going to be credible in an editorial that was published on saturday the eve of the election by bangkok post an english language newspaper it said that this is election is not going to be free or fair and human rights watch has already described the election as a way for the military to ensure it's rule maybe not in uniform but in suits so

this is really something that the military in the last five years when it's been in power has tried to see to it what it's trying to perpetuate its rule by a number of ways you heard in scott's report there how it has given itself the power to appoint about a third of the legislation it's also put in place a twenty year plan that isn't trying to end the constitution that will essentially bind successive governments to the generals visions for thailand essentially it's put in place a hybrid political system that is not acceptable to everyone in the political spectrum so then the next question for thailand is not only can this election be seen as a way to return democracy but really whether it will create another cycle of political instability for thailand well that remains to be seen thank you very much in any case for us louis joining us there from chiang mai. a pakistan has been

showing off its military might sus parts of its national day celebrations india's prime minister narendra modi's senses best wishes pakistan's prime minister in one comment tweeted his reply saying he believes it's time for serious talks tensions between india and pakistan remain high following the killing of indian soldiers in kashmir region on the shooting down of warplanes come ohio has more now from islamabad. to commemorate pakistan day parade head in the city of islamabad and of course the malaysian prime minister mahathir mohamad do it on a day related to pakistan is the chief guest at the ceremony the pakistani air force displayed its fight to egg crops which were followed by an aerobatic display by chinese. have been flown in from china to take part and up august on day

celebrations also have sixteen pilots from showing all the days august on also showing an area of weapons including indigenously cruise missiles ballistic missiles and main back to tang's pakistani parade was also ordered ten day by several dignitaries and it is interesting to note that that contingent of the. defense forces the bahraini long guns and even from brunei and the jump just above the parade when you were just on had already said they did want to create an ad for peace in the region but that it should not be construed as a sign of weakness deposits on the president saying that on the occasion and at the same time the pakistani prime minister appreciating india's prime minister. narendra modi's tweet in which he greeted pakistan so indeed strained but also to

commemorate an important day which laid the foundations for a separate muslim state and the subcontinent. still to come in sports a tumble past gone wrong will bring us all the latest in the sport from the gymnastics world cup right here in doha. it is murder when you throw a firebomb into someone's home and me shit. actually you know. that's not insignificant in the embers that insignificant ideologically that in significant event is a crime against. very significant by dictating the governments and the fucked up policy shalt not kill part of the radicalized series on al-jazeera.

eternity. secretiveness military occupation. my prison my freedom my heart beats my life by language is my occupation so the thought of even some of this a little child of hers in the book couldn't help the. jerusalem a rock and a hard to please coming soon. and save the sports news now here's leah thank you holloa we'll start with an eventful my in spain where lana messi is argentina suffered

a shock defeat to venezuela but then venezuela's coach threatened to quit claiming the team was being used for political reasons messi missed six internationals after going into self-imposed exile when argentina were knocking out were knocked out of the world cup but he may have regretted his comeback as venezuela won this friendly three one and messi finished up with an injured growing. venezuela's coach threatened to resign after this visit from an official representing opposition leader won by dope before friday's game in madrid the country is in the midst of a power struggle between god though and the president nicolas maduro it when we said. i spoke to the vice president after the game and i've left my position at the disposal i've done it because i've noticed that during oldish time we have been swimming in the water because we are very politicised it's been almost six weeks since former bahamian footballer heche mother had a baby was released from prison in thailand but he has just made

a successful return to the pitch a lot i became on as a substitute for his australian team pascoe vale in their two nil win over south melbourne in a regional league match he was arrested in november while on honeymoon in thailand and threatened with extradition to behead aim despite r.t. having refugee status and australia has since been given citizenship to australia josie marino says he wants to be back to club management by the summer the portuguese who was sacked by manchester united in december was speaking to be in sport on his latest visit to the sports broadcaster's headquarters here in qatar i know exactly what i don't want that's the reason why i had to say already two three or four. different offers i had to say no and i know what i want in terms of not just

a specific club but the nature of the job the dimension of the job i know what i want. in new zealand christchurch is famous super rugby team the canterbury crusaders played its first match since fifty people were killed in the mosque shooting last week the nine time champions held a minute of silence alongside the new south wales were ahead of their game in sydney they went on to lose for the first time in twenty games because of the shooting the crusaders are considering changing their name because of its association with the medieval religious wars between christians and muslims. also in australia cricketers beat pakistan and their first one day international in the u.a.e. chasing to eighty one to when australian captain aaron finch scored a century and sharjah shaun marsh was finished up with an unbeaten ninety one australia beat back to stand by eight wickets with an over to spare. well they were a great string of matches in the second round of the miami open novak djokovic is

off and running and his attempt to won a record seventh title there the world number one beat bernard tomic in straight sets on friday it's the sixth time he's beaten the australian in his many meetings . and v.a. younus on the back for the milwaukee bucks after missing two games for an ankle injury the team took on the miami heat and were up in the first quarter largely because of on the combos eleven points in the second quarter on the call but was down for his ankle again but he returned shortly afterwards he didn't score twenty seven points and twenty eight minutes taking his team to a win one sixteen eighty seven. the brooklyn nets eliminated the los angeles lakers from playoff contention with a one eleven one zero six victory l.a. will miss the playoffs for a franchise record six straight season despite the arrival of star le bron james he fell just short of his eighty first career triple double. williamson is tipped to

be the number one n.b.a. draft pick this summer and he's the biggest star in college basketball right now for obvious reasons the six foot seven freshman made his debut in the n.c.a.a. tournament for duke university racking up twenty five points as they thrashed north carolina state he's so exciting to watch that the tournament even have a camera trained soley on him whenever he plays williamson made headlines earlier this year when he injured his knee after his nike shoe exploded during a game. and poland have successfully defended their nations cup ski jumping title the poles led from start to finish with opening up a sizable advantage in the first round it was poland's third world cup team event victory of this season germany and slovenia came in second and third. gymnast are vying for gold at the gymnastics world cup in doha qatar but it didn't go well for australia's christopher wren cast who fell on his tumbling pass on the floor he had

to stop competing shortly after this. aren't head back to how. thanks very much laid out for me stay with us now to sarah back after the short break. i made every weekly news cycle brings a series of breaking stories and then of course there's donald trump told through the eyes of the world's jannah least that's right out of a hamas script that calls for the annihilation of israel that is not what that phrase means. listening post as we turned the cameras on the media and focused on how they were caught on the stories that matter the most him better use a free palestine a listening post on al-jazeera. generation after generation men work under the merciless sun of northeastern state. in this slum there's no

sewerage running water or other basic services sixty percent of the people here are not living in poverty their needs are so great and their pockets so empty that they are easy prey during election time for politicians they can come here and buy their votes for as little as ten dollars of course if i'm a politician and i give culture and education to people i'm impairing them and if i'm impairing them they may not vote for me so that's why it's in their interest to keep their eyes as they are. it's a vicious circle of inequality aggravated by a severe recession and government austerity that's left thirteen million brazilians unemployed and even if the next government can start the recovery process those living here at the bottom of the social ladder will be the last to benefit from this powerful social network is sculpting a global cyber society and regulation is playing catch up but as scandals begin to

unfold they will witness is that we should not be in this position. they want as much extra in contradistinction jack on the cover to gauge how ethics weigh against profits and how the rules are being written. inside facebook on al-jazeera. myself last bastion falls in syria u.s. backed forces are now in control of the town of baquba s. m how he did this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. they've survived the worst cycle in southern africa is history now the people of mozambique and zimbabwe

face the threat of cholera and malaria. was anger grows in iraq after a ferry disaster that's killed more than one hundred people. the targets of their fear e marching with a mock up of to reason may to mass and he breaks it process in london. us back forces in syria have to clear it what they call the one hundred percent territorial defeats of eisel and elimination of its so-called caliphate it's following weeks of fighting the syrians are across it forces have raised their flag in the last i saw held in northeast syria when it suites french president emanuel michael has praised the operation success but warns nations must continue to be

vigilant in the fight against terrorist groups jamal has more now from beirut. it would seem that that last piece of territory of what once was a much larger entity in the self-styled or self-proclaimed caliphate as the. comics have described it. reduced to a gradually different parties different groups from the kurdish fighters on the ground through the turkish backed free syrian army to the russians internationally together with the americans or united to essentially defeat that group now whether that graphic or defeats in terms of the lack of existence of them controlling any ground will be translated into the actual defeat of the entity the organization of the movement of eyes obviously we'll wait and see but in terms of actual presence on the ground in syria or iraq it would appear that the islamic state no longer

controls and the land whatsoever well let's stay with this a man can has more for us now on the rise and fall of eisel we this is what the end of eisel self declared caliphate looks like those who fled isis last on clay village in north eastern syria say it's not the end of the state in the way i saw intended rather it's just the last place well i saw members of any kind of coordinated resistance. a definite end may end the license doesn't want any families to leave we have tried one time and be very unsuccessful until yesterday the situation under siege is bad for our children are hungry our food had finished the shouting waters and clashes so many people that died those debts to write are hungry and desperate. the state that i saw intended one that allowed them to generate revenue through taxation and oil sales and to be able to pass laws was

defeated in july two thousand and seventeen according to the iraqi government. that's when i saw was pushed out of iraq's second largest city mosul. at the same time syrian democratic forces backed by coalition airstrikes mounted an operation against the group's last major stronghold the city of iraq and syria i saw lost that battle in october the same year. now all that remains of the group is pockets of fighters confined to small areas in iraq and syria analysts say the decline for ice all began with its attempt to take a town on the syrian turkish border in september two thousand and fourteen that's kabbani over there the siege of qubani on the turkey syria border is considered to be a turning point in the battle against eisel turkey were very worried that they managed to get this close to the turkish border so they allowed both the kurdish peshmerga and free syrian army forces to use their territory to go into kabul in conjunction

with the wipe e.g. they were able to force i saw fighters on the outskirts of the town for many it's considered the beginning of the end feisal as caliphate in just a few short years eisel lost its territory and by the end of two thousand and seventeen stopped referring to the caliphate in two thousand and nineteen the group still represents a major threat to whoever by using supporters outside of iraq and syria the group has turned to social media to get its message across but platforms like facebook and twitter have closed thousands of isolated accounts the group now uses secure instant messaging apps things like telegram really have taken center stage so if you're. self respecting gadding you probably are on telegrams because that's where all groups whether it's isis or h.t.s. that's where they all share. the majority the vast majority of their propaganda that's where the key conversations are happening it surprised many that the us president donald trump has now declared the end of the caliphate saying he simply

playing to his domestic audience there's more concern about beisel fighters the remain in iraq and syria and what they might be planning for the future iraq car on the turkey syria border. some ishaqi is a member of the presidential committee of the syrian democratic council and co-chief of the united states representation he says true victory over eisel needs to go beyond defeat on the battlefield. defeating isis doesn't end with a military victory we also need to defeat now the sleeping selves and eventually the ideology that motivated. these people to join isis in commit the crimes that they committed so far there are no indications that the syrian government. would respond we have sent

messages to the syrian government. through a delegation from syria in crafting council that visited moscow in december of two thousand and eighteen and presented what are our demands eleven points but the syrian regime has not responded he basically wants us to surrender that region. to their regime and leaves and of course this is not acceptable for us we have a responsibility towards ten thousand martyrs who gave up their lives for a vision that syria democratic council represent. the number of passengers killed in thursday's ferry disaster in northern iraq has risen to at least one hundred and seven with another one hundred more missing and most who protest us have accused government leaders in baghdad of failing to mourn us or ferry safety prime minister

he has asked parliament to sack the governor over need of a province natasha good name has more from will soon. big groups of people are lining the base of the tigris river as the search operation continues their sharing their anger and their heartache iraqi civil defense says one hundred people are still missing relatives of the victims are packing the morgue desperate for answers and the iraqi red crescent says two people who volunteered to help divers pull bodies out of the river have died compound ng this tragedy on friday during a visit by the iraqi president protesters swarmed his vehicle they called him and government officials thieves they're alleging widespread corruption in advocacy and lack of accountability this amusement park ferry capsized because there were too many passengers on board nine people including the amusement park owner and ferry

operators have been arrested and the iraqi prime minister is calling for the parliament to formally sack governor of this province and two of his deputies he's alleging misconduct and negligence local officials are requesting federal funds to compensate victims families in what has been described as an unprecedented accident in iraq. and more than a week after a cycle in sweats across southern africa aid agencies say they're running ice have time to reach survivors and stop the spreads over disease the u.n. says there are no confirmed cases of cholera. but stagnant water and decomposing bodies raise the risk of that disease and malaria in mozambique more than seven hundred people are confirmed dead in mozambique zimbabwe and malawi but aid workers say that number will rise as floodwaters recede rescue workers are still trying to

reach some fifteen thousand people who are still stranded those who have been rescued or crowded into camps and desperately need eight or malcolm went to sisson thank the districts where some of the villages were among the hardest hit it's not easy to get to armando jacoby's home. so i can only die cut off many parts of central mozambique he turned his mates fields to mud we find it left nothing of his house and it took his aunt uncle and two nephews and. those who managed to swim across the river others were washed away we climbed trees and stayed there for four days without food those who grew too weak just fell down into the water it is god that saved us it's villages like armando's on riverside planes that have been hardest hit this is all that remains of one of armando's

neighbors' homes they had several hearts in this compound another one was here all that's left is the sticks just a few days ago the water level was about twice as high as i am and his neighbors survived by climbing these trees many more people from this village still missing across the river we met on ten year mikeus his house was swept away all his possessions were inside. the water went down he's been searching here for them he found something else instead as we get closer this is a terrible smell not another dead goat or cow. but the body of his four year old neighbor. where i found the body all searching for my things somebody recognized the boy his family is in a camp nearby i want to go and tell them that people here say is the worst i claim to hit mozambique in living memory. down the road survivors gather to receive food

no one hears even for days. government relief workers have brought some rice and flour. but the village administrator tells people it's not nearly enough. that. the people in this area lost everything we don't have houses we don't have food we don't have clothes we have nothing we need help all i have is the clothes i'm wearing. and families given barely enough to get from one day. the government says it needs foreign support for a month ahead and everyone here will depend on it to survive. joins us now from the city of. the scale of the ever station lay bare in your reports you have been some of the more remote areas are the rescue and relief efforts progressing are they getting through to the people who needs help.